Kids don't need another government bureaucracy

New Mexico had 21 cabinet level departments when Bill Richardson was elected governor in 2002. By the time he left office that number was up to 28.

New cabinet-level departments created under Richardson included Education (2003 – voters approved a constitutional amendment changing from an elected state school board to an appointed secretary); Aging and Long-Term Services (2004); Indian Affairs (2004); Veterans Services (2004); Higher Education (2005); Homeland Security and Emergency Management (2007) and Information Technology (2007).

While it can be argued that each of those new departments was warranted, almost all of the services they provide were handled in the past by other agencies. And, the creation of new agencies often causes overlap and duplication of services.

For example, when the state set up its new early-childhood system under Richardson, it had to split funding between the Public Education Department and the Children Youth and Families Department instead of running everything through one agency.

This year, with Democrats back in control of the executive branch and the state’s once-barren coffers now temporarily overflowing with money from oil and gas production, Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, is proposing that another state agency be created and thrown into that mix.

Pedilla has prefiled legislation to create the Early Childhood Education and Care Department. We already have one department devoted to education and another devoted to early-childhood care. So now we need a third department devoted to both?

We also already have three departments involved in education – CYFD, PED and the Department of Higher Education. If the goal is to have a seamless education experience from Pre-K to post-college, is the best way to accomplish that by having four different cabinet-level departments with their fingers in the pie?

The issue with early-childhood education in New Mexico is one of funding, not governance. Every year, attempts are made in the Legislature to increase the percentage taken from the state’s permanent funds to bolster early-childhood education. And every year those bills die in the Senate Finance Committee.

Creating a new state government bureaucracy is not going to change that legislative reality.

The argument against tapping into those funds is right there in their name — “permanent.” They come from oil and gas severance taxes are intended to fund education in the years after the wells have run dry.

That argument appeals to the spendthrift in me, who agrees with Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, each time he warns legislators during the good years like this one to always be thinking about how they will get through the lean years that are sure to come.

But, I’ve become convinced that investing in kids at an early age will pay greater dividends than leaving the money in the bank.

I have no doubt as to Sen. Padilla’s honest desire to help children. But in a state where resources are limited, I think it would be better to spend money on childhood services rather than on a new government department devoted to childhood services.

Walter Rubel is editorial page editor of the Sun-News. He can be reached at wrubel@lcsun-news.com